


Where Violets Grow

by Orchid_Dragon



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime)
Genre: Adulthood, F/F, Kalos Centric, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-12
Updated: 2015-12-08
Packaged: 2018-05-01 06:01:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5194844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orchid_Dragon/pseuds/Orchid_Dragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hikari Hamasaki, a successful and lovely young woman, has come to Kalos to continue working under her mentor and business partner as a pokestylist. Two years into this, she is tasked to manage an important project for their boutique. This leads her to meeting Serena Volcain, a beloved, dreamy actress. What happens next is a nothing less than a brutally honest, modern love story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Gal Pals, She Said

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to dedicate this story to every woman who has ever loved a woman. Your love is valid. Your love is equal to the love a man could offer. I am so sorry society has told you otherwise. I am so sorry society continues to tell you otherwise. This story is for you.

**Early Spring, 3142 Anni Absque Reges**

Brackish wasn’t that much larger than her hometown of Twinleaf, Dawn knew, but at least they boasted a professional sized battle arena. Getting the occasional weekend tickets to some young big shots or continuing professional trainers was always entertaining. It reminded her of the days she was always traveling, forever seeking fame and glory. Dawn, of course, had long left that life behind, like most coordinators did. At age fifteen, she’d begun working as a pokestylist under Paris; now, she continued to do so at age twenty-four, albeit with much more prestige than back then.

_“Oooh, there’s going to be a tag battle tournament this weekend! I’ll try to catch it!”_ Dawn cooed in the language of Sinnoh as she passed the town bulletin board. The sun was barely up, but that just made the walk to work all the more pleasant. In the winter and summer she took her bike to make the travel faster in the extreme weather, but for now, it was just too nice to rush! _“Oh, right… Piplup, will you help me remember that we’re out of bread? We’re out of it and I can’t make dinner without it.”_

“Piplup!” the little water type agreed.

Ah, yes, another thing Brackish Town had that Twinleaf didn’t: an actual market place. Twinleaf had one or two convenience stores and plenty of Dawn’s neighbors owned their own gardens, but she enjoyed the luxury of easy shopping places like cities offered. It meant Mamoswine couldn’t roam freely here as he had in Twinleaf, but Dawn made sure to take him on walks at least once a day.

Soon enough, Dawn finished her trek, arriving in front of Lopunny & Lopunny Boutique. Before Paris and Solidad Takenaka moved back to Paris’s home region of Kalos, Paris and Dawn had done work by commission. Now, they were stable enough that Dawn was Paris’s second-in-command in their own physical store. They could make the clothes and **then** sell them instead of waiting for someone to order a dress so they could be sure it would sell.

_“Good morning,”_ Dawn greeted as she walked in, switching to the language of Kalos with little effort.

_“Hello,”_ Salomé the secretary greeted as she tidied up the lobby, putting the newest magazines on the tables while her spearow sat patiently on her desk. _“Miss Takenaka is waiting for you in her office!”_ the woman quickly told Dawn.

_“Alright, thank you.”_

As Piplup plodded behind her, Dawn soon navigated her way past the design, work, and fitting rooms. Even further she walked past the restroom and the breakroom. Finally, she reached the end of hall and saw Paris in her office, busy doing paper work.

_“Ahem. Paris?”_

The textile engineer looked up, momentarily lost in thought before smiling genuinely. _“Dawn, good morning, good morning, good morning!”_ The business woman got up from her desk, picking up a thick manilla folder. _“Here’s all the research you did on those late 19 th century Kalosian costumes for Marching for Redcloud. Today at two o’clock, Mister Wendelin Seidel is expecting you and a team of our workers to arrive to do the initial measurements of the named characters.”_

_“Will we go ahead and bring the pre-created pieces they ordered?”_ Dawn asked, suddenly aware that no one had contacted any moving companies to do such.

_“No, no, it will be about three months before they start dressing and filming. They have to make sure everyone knows their lines and places before that,”_ Paris explained. _“You will just take the girls to measure the named characters’ actors. Oh, and be certain to check with the director that your designs for the lead characters are acceptable. Today is for just information gathering. The real work starts after that. Your team won’t have to go back again until they’re ready to deliver the costumes. You will need to go back weekly until then to make sure that the materials we are using are suitable to the needs of both the humans and pokemon on set. Also, this is a very important business opportunity, so building a good reputation is…”_ Paris twirled her hand in the air. _“Of the utmost importance.”_

Noticing how worried her trainer had gotten, Paris’s lopunny – who had until then been lazily lounging on the couch – quickly hopped over, comforting her mildly frazzled mistress.

_“Of course, Paris,”_ Dawn assured. _“No need to worry.”_

Piplup chirped in agreement with Dawn.

* * *

 

At one o’clock, Dawn and her small band of Lopunny & Lopunny workers were being escorted through Shalour City’s own Rapid Spin Studios. Though they were a small movie company, Rapid Spin Studios produced compelling and historically accurate films.

_“Ah, here it is, Miss Hamasaki,”_ the escort said, looking towards Dawn. _“This is the set of Marching for Redcloud.”_

_“Thank you,”_ the pokestylist said kindly before walking onto the set, Piplup nestled in her arms.

The set was bustling. Extras were busy being shown where to stand while the protagonist of the movie, who looked to be a native of the Harasa region, were reviewing the safe landing zones for their eventual stunts. The camera crew looked to be in a near frenzy, testing angles to see what worked best. Finally, the chatter of dozens of pokemon rounded out the chaos. Through it all, Dawn spotted who she was looking for: the director Wendelin Seidel and his ever loyal loudred.

Leading the line of workers, Dawn approached him as he was surrounded by script hands and camera workers.

_“Mr. Seidel,”_ she greeted, _“Greetings and good afternoon. Lopunny and Lopunny Boutique, at your service. I am Hikari Hamasaki and this is my team. We are here to measure your actors.”_

Waving away the stage hands, Wendelin sat up with interest. _“Ms. Hamasaki, thank you for arriving early! Here, I’ll show you myself to your costume department. I’ll have the talent manager round up our stars and have them come to you.”_

_“Thank you very much.”_ Assuming that he was well pleased with the transaction so far, Dawn and her girls followed the man to their new department. At once, the girls began setting up measuring areas, putting up temporary privacy walls and getting out their measuring tape as well as notebooks.

* * *

 

Soon, the actors started filtering in. Minor roles, at first. Their costumes would be as ornate only as their character demanded. Dawn patiently watched and waited. She had only four characters she would personally take the measurements of: the two protagonists, the peasant brothers who led the rebellion, and the lord and lady of the movie.

And, surprisingly, the Harasa native actors were extremely pleasant to measure, if not a little difficult.

_“You have to stop telling him jokes!”_ Dawn chided over the privacy wall. _“He’s giggling and shaking! I can’t get a good measure!”_

_“Sorry, Ms. Hamasaki, but his laugh—it’s so ugly! I love to hear it!”_ Khalid Darzi called back _. “I’ll stop, though. I’m sorry.”_

Clicking her tongue with a smile, Dawn finally was able to measure the Aqil Boulos’s chest width. _“Well, that finishes you up. You two stay out of trouble.”_

Piplup joined in as well, as if he were now chiding the youths.

_“We’ll try,”_ they said in unison. Clearly they were both friends off the job as well; otherwise, how would they achieve such synchronization?

_“Is it my turn, now?”_ came a melodious voice.

Dawn turned, not surprised but stunned all the same. Serena Voclain, a rising star, stepped behind the privacy curtain, all six feet of her dressed breezily for spring. Dawn swallowed thickly before reaching for her stood. The blonde bombshell towered a whole eight inches above her, after all.

_“It is,”_ the stylist explained. _“Now, I need you to stay very still for me.”_

_“Of course,”_ the actress agreed.

With much hesitance on Dawn’s part—when was the last time she fumbled measuring someone good looking?!—Serena’s measurements were completed. Needless to say, she was much more content to measure the girl’s braixen. While the fire type was cute, Dawn wouldn’t ever have the hots for it. The measuring process was overall very pleasant.

Unfortunately, the man playing the lord and chief antagonist of the film was not so patient. He felt that with his fame, Dawn ought to already know his size. It was a tiresome experience. Piplup came mere seconds away from giving him a nasty drill peck. Luckily, Dawn managed to give him a glad in just the right time; if the little penguin had done that, it would have been disastrous for business!

* * *

 

Gathering up the data from the girls and sticking it in her own notebook to be transcribed when they returned to the office, Dawn saw a head poke into the dressing room.

It was the set manager. _“Ladies, you are very much so invited to our evening snack session. However, Ms. Hamasaki, Mr. Seidel has specifically asked you come meet with him.”_

Not going to turn down a free meal and a chance to mingle with people in the movie industry, the Lopunny & Lopunny workers let out happy giggles as they thanked the set manager and headed out to the buffet.

_“I’ll of course see what Mr. Seidel wants. Could you take me to him?”_ Dawn inquired.

_“Of course,”_ the set manager offered. _“Right this way, please.”_

* * *

 

The meeting, as it turns out, was rather tense. The Khalid and Aqil sat on either side of Lucile Blaise. Given that the woman was one of the board members of Rapid Spin Studios and the overseer of the movie, Dawn understood why Wendelin wanted so many people here. Between the resource manager, the head make-up artist, the cinematic advisor, and herself, Wendelin was trying his hardest to make it clear that this movie was in good hands.

However, the two men were absolutely charming. Lucile grinned and giggled at their antics. Wendelin could have let her go to lunch with just them and she would have approved of the movie. Their humor and charm knew no bounds!

_“Pascal Fauchex seems rather unimpressed with the jokes,”_ Serena noted quietly beside Dawn, nibbling on her fruit. The actress had been in a bit of a funk since she entered the room.

Dawn assumed it was because the manager asked them to put their pokemon into balls for professionalism’s sake. All the same, the pokestylist let out a hum of agreement to the actress. The lead actor was much too serious. No wonder he was always doing those overdramatic action and fantasy movies! He had no sense of humor!

_“So, we know each other professionally… But, didn’t you win Queen of Kalos once?”_ Dawn inquired, certain she’d seen the girl’s face before – especially now that she was thinking about that braixen of Serena’s.

_“Oh, yes, but that was so long ago! How did you know?”_ Serena answered. She stopped eating, genuinely curious.

_“I knew it. Your hair was different back then, but you’ve got the same beautiful figure,”_ Dawn praised.

Serena giggled, twirling her short locks. At the time of her crowning, Serena had dyed her hair a paler blonde. These days, she wore it natural once more.

_“You actually traveled with a good friend of mine: Satoshi Ketchum. Though, you probably called him Ash…”_ the stylist trailed off.

Shock was written all over the actress’s face. _“No way! You knew Ash?!”_

_“Uh-huh. He called me Dawn, like all my friends usually do.”_ She stirred her mostly finished soup, somehow worried that saying her nickname would bring up the nickname of the nickname.

_“Oh, he mentioned you! Very nice to meet you in person, anyway,”_ the starlet concluded. _“Say, let’s exchange home video phone numbers, hm? I always need more gal pals! May I call you Dawn?”_

A bit stunned that Serena was being so forward, Dawn thought about it and decided she would definitely not mind having a pretty girl calling her house often. _“Yes, let’s! You most certainly may call me Dawn.”_

With that exchange, the two girls smiled at each other, feeling a since of kinship. They would definitely be seeing more of each other.


	2. Rising Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Serena goes to visit Shauna and the two discuss their lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've changed some formatting for this chapter. Please excuse that!

The loud, rhythmic beats of the dance studio pulsed through Serena as soon as she walked in. On stage, Shauna Nylund was stomping and gyrating to “OHKO.” Serena paused for a moment, clutching the to-go bag tighter as she listened.

“I’m a Pokevision Queen,” she sang, a sarcastic edge to her tone. “It can be a one hit knock out.” She slid forward with her dancers. While the others had red tones to their outfits, Shauna’s was baby pink and white. Her taste in attire hadn’t changed much despite the years.

Serena remembered Shauna writing this particular song. It was right after she made it big and everyone was decrying her as a flop waiting to happen. Well, three years later, Shauna was getting a solo region-wide tour for her album _Ragweed to Roses_ and the media that had dogged her now worshipped her as the queen of pop music.

Shauna added a bit more shimmy to her movements. “I’m a Princess Has-Been. It can be a one hit knock out.” As their tennis uniform-esque outfits flounced on stage, it was evident that Shauna was definitely the lead. Her back up dancers were good, but Shauna wasn’t letting up.

“I’m Miss Paparazzi Gettin’ Paid Tonight. It can be a one hit knock out,” she sang, leading up to the big conclusion of the song.

Serena grew excited, unconsciously moving to the beat.

“I’m Miss You Better Treat Me Right! Oh, yeah… We can do it in one round.”

The dancers circled around her as the music abruptly came to an end, Shauna looking intensely at a non-existent audience.

Serena had to force herself to keep from clapping obnoxiously.

“Alright, ladies, let’s break for lunch!” the choreographer said whilst clapping to get everyone’s attention.

The dancers sighed in relief while Shauna scanned the back of the dance studio, spotting Serena. Quickly descending the practice stage, Shauna ran over, enveloping Serena in a big hug.

“Oh, my friend, I’ve missed you! C’mon, I’m starved! We’ll eat in my dressing room!”

Serena giggled. “Are they feeding you?! You’re ravenous!” All the same, she allowed herself to be led to Shauna’s dressing room.

Shauna was one of those stars with one name. Ornately decorated with glitter, Shauna’s dressing room was definitely marked. There was no mistaking where this sweet little starlet reclined.

As soon as they reached the room, Shauna dramatically flopped down on the chaise lounge that took up the front wall of her dressing room. Serena sat down at the chair before her make up counter, shaking her head.

“Please tell me you were able to get something from _Feeding the Meowths_ ,” Shauna pleaded.

“I can’t believe you doubted me!” Serena quipped, reaching down into the bag to pass Shauna her signature salad – apple and pecan with a sweet vinegar dressing with spinach. Serena, herself, went a more savory route: grilled chicken with olives and Italian dressing on chunk of iceberg lettuce. “The bistro was a little out of the way, but we weren’t filming any of my scenes today, so it was fine that I left early.” _Rapid Spin Studios_ and _Soundproof Incorporated_ were only a ten minute ride apart by taxi, after all.

As Serena dug into her lunch with the (sturdy and clearly more expensive than usual) plastic fork the bistro provided, she noticed that Shauna hadn’t even opened hers yet. “What’s up? Oh, shoot, I forgot to get us something to drink! Where’s the vending machines, I’ll go—!”

“No, that’s not it,” Shauna corrected. She got up, walking beyond the make-up table and returned with two waters. It was probably her mini-fridge. “It’s just… I wanna look my best for this tour. I notice I’ve been a little bloated some days, lately, so I’m wondering if I should cut out all my sugar.”

“Aw, Shauna,” Serena consoled, getting up to go sit by her friend. She patted her shoulder. “I know what you mean. But, you’re super cute! And, very fit.” To prove her point, she poked Shauna’s thigh. All that dancing had made her toned. “If someone makes a fuss because you’re a few centimeters wider on that little itty bitty waist of yours, that’s their issue. They should be looking at you perform, anyway!” Serena chided.

Shauna was indeed comforted, but she decided to give Serena a hard time anyway. “Easy for you to say! You haven’t worn anything exposing your midriff since, what, before you were Kalos Queen? You know there are still fans of yours that are obsessed with that Fennekin outfit.”

“I was, like, sixteen, seventeen when I wore that!” Serena said, a little bit aghast. She shook her head. “Whatever. The fact remains, you don’t have anything to worry about, O Queen of Pop.”

The two giggled, both digging into their meals properly.

“You know, I’m gonna try to make a show or two, but don’t get mad if the director keeps me the entire time,” Serena said in between bites. “This movie’s supposed to be historically accurate and it’s important because it discusses Kalos’s colonial past. He wants us to take it seriously.”

“I understand, Serena,” Shauna assured. “We’ve both got lives. Though, how about we make a deal: I’ll show up to one of the big _Marching for Redcloud_ showings if you come to at least one of my shows? Otherwise, we have to meet up later to watch your movie and listen to my whole album! Like a slumber party. God, it’s been so long since we’ve had a sleep over.”

“That’s a deal,” Serena agreed.

“… Aw, man, I still can’t believe I’m going on my first tour!” Shauna enthused. “It feels like just yesterday that Soundproof found my Pokevision videos! … I do miss being able to goof off, more.”

“Shauna! That isn’t the way a married woman should talk!” Serena chided, pointing to Shauna’s ring finger. There, a golden band surrounded a blue diamond with white sapphire accents. Briefly, Serena found herself jealous of the ring. “… You know, every time I see that rock Clemont got you, I wanna get married!”

“You get married for more than a ring,” Shauna teased.

“I knoooooow,” Serena whined.

The singer rolled her eyes, taking a deep swig of her water. “Well, I mean, a certain Tierno Lawrenz still raves about how beautiful you are. He’s surrounded by women and I can tell he’s still after you. They’re all tall blondes, Serena. I mean, that doesn’t even cover all the other eligible young men, if you’ve decided you’re too good for a dance instructor or something.”

“I-I don’t think I’m too good for Tierno,” Serena balked, a bit insulted that Shauna had such little faith in Serena’s love life. Truth be told, Serena’s little heart still belonged to one Ash Ketchum. “My tastes are just… very specific.”

“Mmhm,” Shauna agreed. “You like ‘em ‘bout average height, dark, and—“

“Anyway, when are you and Clemont gonna have a baby, huh? And, am I going to be the godmother?!”

“God, not you, too! Bonnie hardly goes a second when she sees us without either dropping a hint or trying to steer the conversation that way. I’ve never met a little girl so invested in other people’s love lives!” Shauna flopped back on the lounge once more, dramatically knocking off her empty to-go box.

“… But, we did talk. After this tour, Clemont thinks if I take a while off and he can get paternity leave, we should try more seriously.”

Serena grinned. “Oh? Does that mean your current tries aren’t so serious?”

Shauna’s mouth was left agape. She took her bottle and splashed a little on the blonde. “Girl, check yourself because you are about thirsty! My break is over! Oh my gosh!” Calmed, Shauna giggled. “For real, chill out. I gotta go back to dancing. See you later, Serena.”

Whining for the wet spot now on her black shirt, Serena was suddenly glad she had a jacket around her waist. Putting it on, she waved goodbye to Shauna as she headed to the exit of the studio. “See you around, Shauna.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait, guys! Thanks for reading.

**Author's Note:**

> If there are any questions, comments, or critiques, I would love to address them! This is my first multi-chapter, serious femslash story, and I want this fandom to have good ones. So, please: if there is something to be approved upon to make this a better story, let me know. I appreciate you taking the time to read. Thank you.


End file.
